Ladies&#39; stockings



April 1961 J. M. R. REYMES-COLE ETAL 2,980,981

LADIES STOCKINGS Filed Nov. 19, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I nventor:

A ttorn ey April 25, 1961 J. M. R. REYMES-COLE ETAL 2,980,981

LADIES STOCKINGS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 19, 1956 BirmrJ hmTnInventors A ttorne y April 1961 J. M. R; REYMES-COLE ETAL 2,980,981

LADIES STOCKINGS Filed Nov. 19, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Inventors Altorney LADIES STOCKINGS John Maurice Reyrnes Reymes-Cole, Blaby, andBernard Thornton Reymes Reymes-Cole, Burbage, near Hinckley, England,assignors, by mesne assignments, to Singer-Fidelity, Inc., Philadelphia,Pa., a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 19, 1956, Ser. No. 623,005

7 Claims. (Cl. 28--72) This invention concerns ladies stockingsandparticularly seamless stockings. In the manufacture of ladies UniteStates Patent stockings it is usual to form a pouch at the heel by the qprovision of additional. fabric at this location. In the case of fullyfashioned stockings there are various well known methods of providingthis additional fabric. In the case of a seamless stocking it iscustomary to pro vide the additional fabric in pouch form, the pouchbeing knitted by reciprocation on approximately half the number ofneedles, and the toe is shaped by the formation of a similar pouch.These known methods of producing the heel and toe by reciprocatoryknitting necessarily involve some reduction in the production rate, andone object of the invention is to provide a method of producing the heelin a ladies stocking which may be practiced without appreciablereduction in the speedat which the heel and toe parts of the stockingare knitted as contrasted with the speeds of production of the adjacentparts of the foot and leg. Another object is to provide a seamlessstocking having a heel of improved appearance.

To achieve the desired result the invention makes use of the knownproperties of synthetic thern o-plasticyarn (and primarily that yarnwhich is known as nylon and other yarns of man-made fibres possessingsetting properties) viz. that a fabric knitted from this yarn may bedistorted to take up a predetermined shape and may be caused to set inthat shape by a proper heat treatment (itself well known).

The invention therefore provides a method for the production of a ladiesstocking which comprises knitting the foot, heel part, toe and legbyrotational knitting in form of atube, at least the heel part beingknitted from a thermoplastic yarn, closing the toe by joining togethersuperposed portions of the tubular fabric and removing surplus fabricbeyond the join line, and subsequently forming the heel shaping at leastpartially by drawing the stocking on to a form having the desired heelcontour thereby stretching the heel part width-wise to shape andafterwards setting the heel part to the desired shape by the applicationof heat. If desired only the heel part is knitted of the thermoplasticyarn, the foot and leg being knitted of natural or artificial silk orlisle. This involves the knitting of part of each of successive coursesof the thermoplastic yarn and the other part thereof of the other yarn.Preferably, however, the thermo-plastic yarn is used throughout, and theinvention therefore provides a method for the production of a ladiesstocking which comprises knittingthe foot, heel part, toe and leg from athermo-plastic yarn by rotational knitting in the form of a tube closingthe toe by joining together superposed portions of the tubular fabricand removing surplus fabric beyond the join line, subsequentlyvstretching the heel part to a .pouched shape at least partially bydrawing the stocking on to a form having the desired contourand-subsequently setting the heel partto the shape dictated by the formby the application of heat. It will therefore be appreciated that since.the'heel and toe pasts of the stocking are, like the adjacent ofinvention;

Patented Apr. 25, 1961 and leg, knitted by rotation the speed at whichthe stocking is produced on the knitting machine is substantiallygreater than that at which a conventional seamless stocking is produced.

The production of the desired pouch shape for the heel may befacilitated by the adoption of one or both of the following expedients,viz. the loops around the back of the heel may be knitted with slackstitches, and/0r spaced courses may be omitted from the instep.

Preferably in carrying out the invention spaced courses are omitted fromthe instep during the knitting of the stocking at the heel location.When knitting the stocking in this way the instep and heel fabricshaving different numbers of courses may be caused to be connected at aplurality of wales. For example certain spaced needles in the instepportion of the course near its junction with the heel portion of thecourse may be brought into knitting operation with the heel needleswhile intervening needles among the instep needles are brought into andout of knitting action with the main group of instep needles. This willserve to anchor the partial courses to the full courses at a pluralityof spaced wales.

In closing the toe end of the stocking the sides of the tubular fabricare conveniently seamed together along a curved line extending acrossthe'course lines between the sole of the foot and the toe extremity. Toavoid the formation of an objectionable dog car at the toe extremity ofthe finished stocking a small tuck may be formed in the fabric at thetoeward end of the line of seaming, or the toe extremity fabric mayincorporate a thermoplastic yarn possessing stretch properties andcaused to be shaped to the desired form on the board and set in thatform. v

' The invention thus provides a ladies stocking having the foot, heelpart, toe and leg knitted by rotational knitting, at least the heel partbeing knitted from a thermo-plastic yarn, the shaping of the heel pouchhaving been effected at least partially by stretching the heel portionwidth-wise on a shaped form and setting the heel to such shape.

The invention further includes a circular knitting machine organised toknit the foot, heel part, toe and leg of a ladies stocking by rotationalknitting and having a group of heel needles used for knitting the heelpouch and certain needles adjoining them and separated by interveningneedles operable by means of butts of one length and other needlesincluding said intervening needles used for knitting the forward orinstep portion opposite the heel operable by means of butts of adifferent length, and a selecting cam movable towards and away from anoperative selecting position in relation to the needle cylinder inadvance of the stitch cam in which selecting position the said selectingcam serves by selective deflection of needles to cause the needlesoperable by said different length butts to be Withheld from knittingactivity while the remaining needles are caused to knit.

The aforementioned and other features of the invention are more fullyset out in the following description of a preferred manner of carryingout the invention given by way of example with reference to theaccompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a view of the lower portion of a stocking made in accordancewith the invention;

Figure 2 shows on a smaller scale in perspective a knitted tube offabric from which the stocking is formed;

Figure 3 is a greatly enlarged view of a portion of the fabric ononeside of the heel of the stocking shown in Figure l; i

Figure 4 vshows'in side elevation 'a knitting machine having mechanismapplied thereto for carrying out the Figure 5 is an enlarged perspectiveview of certain parts of the mechanism shown in Figure 4, and

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic development view of a cam arrangementemployed in the machine;

Figure 7 is a view of the foot end of a stocking knitted as a seamlesstube as it appears before the toe end has been closed;

Figures 8 and 9 are detail views on a substantially enlarged scale of aportion of the toe end showing the formation of a tuck, part of thefabric being broken away in Fig. 8, and

Figure 10 is a plan view of the toe end of the stocking as it appearswith its upper face laid flat, indicating the final outside appearancethereof In Figure 1 there is shown the foot portion of a ladiesstocking, the foot proper being indicated at 19, the heel pouch at 11and the leg at 12. The shaping of the heel is effected at leastpartially by stretching the heel portion width-wise on a shaped form andthen setting the fabric to the desired shape by the application of heatin the performance of the preboarding operation. In so shaping the heelthewidthwise stretch imparted to it is substantially greater than anywidth-wise stretch applied to other parts of the stocking. The stockingis knitted throughout by rotation, thus permitting the heel to heknitted at substantially the same speed as the remainder of thestocking. By rotational knitting the tube of fabric a shown in Fig. 2open at both ends is first formed, knitting preferably being performedcommencing at the toe end and proceeding along the foot and up the legportion' After completion of the tube the toe end is cut to shape andseamed and then the stocking is stretched on a form to bring it to thedesired final shape and set.

As shown in the drawings the heel pouch is partially formed during theknitting of the stocking, though it is within the invention, inappropriate circumstances, to knit the complete stocking as a plaintube, i.e. without any heel pouch formation. The partially formed pouchis preferably formed by arranging that at the heel a greater number ofcourses are knitted by the heel needles than by the remaining needlesfrom which the instep portion of the fabric is knitted. In those coursesin which the heel needles only are active to knit, a length of looseyarn extends from end to end of the heel courses inside the stocking;such loose lengths of yarn are subsequently removed by cropping. Thegroup of heel needles which remain always in knitting activity duringknitting of the heel may be equal to, but is preferably less than thenumber of the remainder of the needles which are withdrawn periodicallyfrom knitting activity during the knitting of the heel. In the knittingof the stocking shown the heelward group represents about a quarter ofthe total number of needles around the cylinder, the remainder beingreferred to for convenience as instep needles, although some of themserve to knit fabric at the sides of the heel. In the knitting of theheel it is found that an appropriate partial pouch formation is producedby holding the instep needles out of knitting activity for three out ofevery four courses at the heel.

In the most preferred way of carrying out the invention the heel of thestocking is knitted in such a way that certain selected ones of theinstep needles near the ends of the group of instep needles are causedto be active with the heel needles while other instep needles betweensaid selected ones are brought into and out of knitting activity withthe instep needles. This ensures that at the junction between the heelwales and the wales of the instep group at the sides of the stockingformed during the knitting of the heel, the portions of fabric havingdifferent numbers of courses are connected at a plurality of wales andthe subsequent stretching of the tubular fabric on the form will be muchless liable to cause dragging of thin places between the wales such aswould tend to mar the appearance and wearingqualities of the finishedstocking. r

Figure 3 shows an enlarged view of a portion of the fabric containingthe junction between the heelward portion and the instep portion at theheel, and a number of heel wales are indicated at H while a group ofinstep wales is shown at I. The eight wales on the instep side adjoiningheel fabric H are numbered 1 to 8 and it will be seen that numbers 1, 2,5 and 6 have knitted loops at every fourth course as in the case of wale8 and the other instep wales, while wales numbered 3, 4 and 7 haveknitted loops at every course as in the case of the heel fabric H.

During intermediate courses when no loops are formed at wales 1, -2, 5and 6, the yarn is floated on the inside of the fabric. By proceeding inthis manner the finished stocking has at each side of the heel a markingindicated at 13 in Figures 1 and 2 where the junction between the heelfabric H and the instep fabric I occurs. Such marking is not undulyobtrusive, being little more predominant than the suture marking causedby shaping on fully fashioned stockings and the heel of the stockingshown in Figure 1 has a general appearance not greatly differing fromthat of the heel of a fully fashioned stocking.

The stocking shown in the drawing is provided with a mock seam 14 andmay have mock fashioned marks incorporated in it or may be fashioned inany known manner.

Figures 4 to 6 illustrate how a known form of circular knitting may bemodified to enable knitted courses as shown in Figure 3 to be formedwhile knitting the heel portion of the stocking. For this purpose theheel needles for knitting wales as indicated at H in Figure 3 areprovided with butts which are shorter than those of the remainingneedles with the exception of those used for knitting on each side ofthe stocking, wales corresponding to those indicated at 3, 4 and 7 inFigure 3; and an additional selecting cam is provided and brought intooperation during the knitting of the heel so as to engage all of thelonger needle butts in advance of the stitch cam and depress them sothat they will pass below the stitch cam. Such additional cam isindicated at 15 in Figures 4 and 5.

Referring to Figure 4, the machine comprises a main framework 16 and arotating needle cylinder 17 which is rotated during operation of themachine in an anticlockwise direction as viewed from above. The cam boxfor operating on the needle butts to perform the knitting operation isindicated diagrammatically by chain lines at 18. On a table 19 on themachine there is mounted a block 20, the upper face of which is groovedto form a slidew-ay for a short bar 21 carrying the cam 15 in the formof a plate which is curved somewhat as viewed in plan to conform to theneedle cylinder and has an inclined cam edge 22 engageable with needlebutts in a manner later described. The groove in the upper part of theblock 20 is closed by a cover plate 23. The bar 21 is urged by a spring24 in the direction to move the cam 15 towards the needle cylinder 17and has a depending projection 25 carrying an adjustable stop screw 26for engaging the block 20 to determine the inward position of the cam15. On the bar 21 there is a lateral pin 27 engaged by a co-operatingfinger on a lever 28 secured to a rock shaft 29 carrying a further lever30 coupled by a link 31 to a double-armed lever 32. The latter carries apivot pin 33 by which it is pivoted to the bracket 134 on the table 19.Coupled to the lower arm of the lever 32, is a link 34 anchored at itsrear ends to the upper end of an upstanding lever 35 the latter beingpivoted at its lower end at 36 to a bracket 37 secured to the back ofthe machine frame 15 The link 34 is spring urged by a spring 38 to urgeit forwardly so asto rnove the lever 28 toward the needle cylinder andthereby permit the cam 15 tobe urged towards the cylinder by the spring24. l

The stop screw 26 associated with the bar 21 is adjusted so that in itsmost inward position towards the needle cylinder the cam will lie in thepath of the longer needle butts but spaced outwardly from the cylindersufficiently to avoid contact with the short needle butts. Thus when thecam 15 is in its inmost setting such needles as have longer butts arewithdrawn downwardly by engagement with cam edge 22 sufliciently to missthe stitch cam. Needles having short butts will not, however, bedeflected downwardly and will engage with the stitch cam in normalmanner. When the cam 15 is withdrawn to an outward position none of theneedle butts will'be engaged by it and all needles will be permitted tobe operated by the stitch cam for normal knitting. it will be seen thatthe arrangement is such that the cam 15 is moved to its operativeselecting position by spring action and withdrawn from such position byoperation of the lever 35 to rock it rearwardly. The lever 35 is adaptedto be rocked in this way by means of a cam projection 39 secured to agear wheel indicated at 40, said projection 39 being adapted to engagewith a pin 41 projecting from the far side of the lever 35 as viewed inFigure 4. The gear wheel 40 forms part of the normal mechanism of themachine and is geared to the needle cylinder in such a way that the gear40 makes one rotation in every four rotations of the needle cylinder 17.It will be noted cam 39 extends only around approximately a quarter ofthe circumference of the wheel 40 and it is so timed that the lever 35is rocked rearwardly when the heel group of needles is passing the cam15 and is permitted to return forwardly at the succeeding correspondingposition after the needle cylinder has completed one rotation. Thusduring the knitting of the heel the cam 15 is effective for threerotations of the needle cylinder in every four and out of operationduring the fourth rotation.

As the operation of the mechanism so far described is required to occuronly during knitting of the heel portion of the stocking means isprovided under the control of a usual pattering arrangement (for examplea patterning chain) to maintain-said mechanism out of operation duringthe knitting of other portions of the stocking. For this purpose theusual control drum which is indicated at 42 is provided with anextension having a cam projection 43 arranged to co-operate with afollower 44 on a double armed lever 45, 46 pivoted at 47 to a bracket onthe machine frame. The rear end of the arm 46 is pivotedat 48 to avertically movable slide 49 guided in a lower guide (not shown) and in aslot 50 in the rear of the table 19. The slide 49 is urged downwardly bya spring indicated diagrammatically at' 51 as being attached to thelever arm 46, and the slide carries a stepped abutment 52 to cooperatewith a stop screw 53 adjustably mounted in a bracket on the lever 35.The arrangement is such that with the slide in its downward position, asshown, the peak 54 of the stepped bracket 52 engages the screw 53 tohold the cam 15 away from the needle cylinder. When the cam projection43 rocks the lever 45, 46 so as to raise the slide 49, the lever 35 7 51urges tlie slide 49 downwardly so that when the lever 35 is againrockedrearwardiy by the cam 39 the peak 54 of the projection '52 ispermitted to engage with the screw 35 and thereby hold the cam 15 awayfrom the needle cylinder during the knitting of the remainder of thestocking.

Figure 6 illustrates diagrammatically the arrangement of-cams as viewedrlooking outwardly from the needle cylinder the paths of the needlebutts being shown in chain linesandthe arrows 55' indicating thedirection of movement of the needle butts in relationto the earns. 75from the machine and the toe of it completed the stock.

The usual switch cam is indicated at 56 and the upthrow cam at 57.Assuming the cam 15 shown on the right of Figure 6 is in its inmostsetting, the path of the butts of short butt needles is indicated by thechain lines at 58, and that of all the longer butt needles is indicatedby the chain lines at 59. It will be seen that the longer butt needlesare deflected downwardly by the cam 15 so as to miss the stitch cam 56and pass forwardly below it so that these needles are maintained out ofknitting activity. The short butt needles, however, are missed by thecam 15 and they pass in the normal way tothe stitch cam 56 to performknitting action. The arrangement of the butts on the needles i such thatthe group of needles from which the wales extending round the heel groupare knitted (these being the wales corresponding to those indicated at Hin Figure 3) have short butts while the remaining needles which may bereferred to as the instep group, with certain exceptions have longerbutts. The exceptions just referred to are spaced needles in the instepground near the ends thereof which may for example be the needles forknitting wales corresponding to those shown at 3, 4 and 7 in Figure 3,these needles having short butts so that they remain in knittingactivity with the heel group. It will thus be seen that with the machinearranged as shown in Figures 4 and 5 knitting of the heel portion toproduce a partial heel pouch, as shown in Figure 2 with a fabricstructure each side of the heel the same as, or closely similar to thatshown in Figure 3 may be effected automatically.

It will beappreciated that the particular needles selected from amongthe instep group for knitting with the heel needles during the heelformation may be varied as desired. While Figure 3 shows an arrangementwherein the needles for knitting wales Nos. 3, 4 and 7 have beenselected for this purpose any other desired arrangement of selectedneedles from among the end needles of the instepgroup may be employed,it being preferred to arrange matters so that there are at least twoneedles of the instep needles interposed between needles which areactive with the heel needle group during the heel formation. It willalso be appreciated that the instep needles having the longer butts maybe arranged with butts of different lengths in any desired arrangementfor patterning or other purposes, in which case some instep needles mayhave long butts and others medium length butts, while the heel needlesand those arranged to be brought into knitting action with them haveshort butts the cam 15 being arranged to engage both the long butts andthe medium butts but miss the short butts when in operative position forselection of needles for knitting and non-knitting at the heel.

In forming the heel pouch partially by knitting more courses at theheelward portion than at the forward or instep portion of the stockingthe relative number of heelward courses and instep courses may be variedas desired. Arrangements may also be made whereby the selected needlesnear the ends of the group of the instep needles which are caused toknit when other instep needles are inactive are brought into knittingaction only at selected ones of the heelward courses knitted while theinstep group of needles is inactive. This can for example be arranged byproviding additional butts at a different level on the selected instepneedles and providing an additional cam to engage such butts during theknitting of the heel to depress the said .needles out of knittingactivity for such courses of the heel part during which the selectedinstep needles are not required to be active. Such an additional cam canbe operated by mechanism similar to that used for operating the cam 15.

The yarn employed for the stocking is preferably nylon but any othersynthetic linear polyamide filament such for example as that known inthe trade as Perlon or that sold under the Registered Trade MarkTerylene may be employed. Whenthe stocking hasbeen taken ing is drawnonto a conventional form or shape and while thereon is submitted to heat(desirably above 100 C.) and is then permitted to cool. The formdistorts the stocking in the region of the heel to the required shapeand the heat renders the filament plastic so that the knitted fabricreadily assumes that shape and upon cooling the fabric sets to theassumed shape. Thereafter the stocking can be submitted to any lowertemperature without distorting the shape.

Certain preferred ways of completing the toe end of a stocking will nowbe described with reference to Figures 7 to 10. As shown in Figure 7 thefoot 10 formed as a seamless tube preferably incorporates a markercourse 111 knitted of contrasting yarn to define the position of the toeextremity and a few courses 112 of tubular fabric extending forwardly ofthe course 111 provided as a margin for later trimming. To complete thetoe end the stocking is turned inside out and the foot brought to a fiatcondition by being folded along the approximate centre lines of theinstep and sole and the toe end is cut and seamed to shape respectivelyalong lines 113 and 114 curving forwardly and upwardly from the middleof the width of the sole of the foot up to the middle of the width ofthe top portion at a point lying on or just in front of the markercourse 111. Before the toeward end of the seam is formed a narrow tuck115 of rearwardly tapering shape is formed across the marker course onthe line of the centre of the instep so that portions of the sides haveinserted between them a central folded-in portion of V section formedfrom the top of the fabric giving an over-lap of about to Ms" in depthat the marker course. This tuck is then secured by the toeward end ofthe seam which serves to stitch the overlapped parts together. It willusually be found convenient to commence seaming from the middle of thesole and the tuck 115 is then formed immediately before the seam iscompleted at the toe end. Alternatively seaming may be performed in thereverse direction, the small tuck 115 at the top being formed justbefore commencing seaming.

A convenient procedure is to form the toe end by seaming and cuttingalong the lines 114 and 113 at the same operation using a sewing machinefitted with a trimming attachment, the toe end, after being turnedinside out, being fed to the machine, so that it is both seamed andtrimmed close to the seam during its passage through the machine. Thestocking is afterwards reversed, subjected to the usual pro-boarding forshaping it and then dyed in the usual way. The result of forming thesmall tuck 115 and seaming the parts together as described is to producein its final form a toe end as shown in Fig. '3 wherein a non-pointedtoe extremity is shown which is devoid of the troublesome and unsightlydog ears which are often associated with a toe end formed by cutting andseaming. It will be seen from Fig. 10 that the wale lines 116 extendtowards the seam and converge in a smooth and regular manner so thatthere is no tendency for puckering of the fabric. 1

Instead of fixing the small tuck 115 in the fabric by passing the seam114 through the tuck, the seam may be completed first and the tuckformed afterwards on reversing the stocking for application to theboard. The tuck is retained on the inside of the toe when the stockingis drawn on to the board and is set in that location so that no dog earis present at the toe of the finished stocking.

In a further alternative method of forming the toe end portion, at leastthat part of the tubular fabric which is to form the toe extremity isknitted to incorporate in it a thermoplastic yarn possessing stretchproperties and the toe end is closed by cutting and seaming the fabricalong the lines 113 and 114 shown in Fig. 7 (without the formation of atuck). The stocking is then subjected to preboarding and settingtreatment to determine and fix the shape of the toe end. By employing atleast in the toe extremity a yarn having setting as well as stretchproperties the formation of a protuberance or dog ears can be avoided.The yarn having setting and stretch properties may be incorporated onlyfor a short distance say /2" to l" at the toe extremity, say between thelines 121 and 122 in Fig. 7, or it may extend throughout the whole ofthe shaping at the toe end, or be continued throughout the foot, or besubstituted in place of the usual splicing thread in the toe and ifdesired along the foot bottom. Preferably the incorporation of stretchyarn at the toe extremity is effected in such a way that such yarn isknitted with only a small degree of tension so that the fabricincorporating it has good stretch properties in all directions enablingit to be drawn snugly against the toe extremity of the board or form onto which the foot is stretched and on which it is set at thepre-boarding operation. If desired the foot may be made somewhat shorterthan is normal for the particular size of footwear so that the fabricincorporating the yarn with stretch properties is tensioned all overwhen the foot is drawn on to a board or form appropriate to the size.

A suitable yarn for incorporation in the toe extremity is a bulked nylonyarn possessing stretch properties, though other bulked yarns composedof man-made fibres and possessing stretch properties may be employed forthe purpose. The stretch yarn may be incorporated either as anadditional yarn which is knitted in with the main yarn (e.g. as asplicing yarn) or as a yarn used in place of a main yarn from which themajor portion of the foot is knitted. The main yarn may be of ordinarynylon (i.e. one not processed to impart to it stretch properties) or anyanalogous yarn which is capable of being set by heat treatment. Thepresence of the stretch yarn in the toe end portion ensures that whenthe foot is drawn on to a board or form in the pre-boarding and settingtreatment the toe end portion will be caused to cling to the form andcan then be set in the correct shape, with avoidance of any dog ear.

It is preferred informing the stocking to knit from the toe end alongthe foot towards the heel and upwards along the leg. By knitting in thismanner the tendency for runs or ladders to develop heelwardly along thefoot is reduced, since laddering in this direction would be confined tothe non-exposed sinker wales. The resistance to such runs from the toeend is preferably further enhanced or made complete by incorporating inthe first courses of knitting a locking thread in such a way that suchthread interlocks with the sinker loops and thereby resists or preventsladder runs from occurring heelwardly in the sinker wales. Such lockingthread is preferably incorporated at leastup to a line as shown at 117so as to extend about one or two inches beyond the line of cutting 113in forming the toe. The incorporation of the locking thread may occur ifdesired throughout a considerable portion or the whole of the foot.

The stocking may if desired be knitted with the artificial or mock seam14 running centrally along the bottom of the foot as well as up the backof the leg and the seam 114 is conveniently arranged to join up withsuch mock seam and form a continuation thereof. The stocking may alsohave its toe and sole portions reinforced by splicing for example up toa line as shown at 120.

It will be appreciated that the manner of toe formation describedfacilitates the rapid production of a stocking toe with a shapely end bypermitting knitting of the foot to be performed entirely by rotationthereby eliminating the slow stage of reciprocatory knitting at the toeend as well as at the heel. The manner of completing the toe is moreoverone which can be effected rapidly since it avoids the need for atime-consuming linking operation.

The invention may be practised in connection with stockings or footwearknitted in conventional manner from welt to toe in which case sufficientresistance to ladders developing from the toe end may be secured byemploying a cotton or other fibrous thread as the normal splicing orreinforcement thread and/or as an additional thread for incorporation atleast in the toeward region rearwardly beyond the location where the toeis to be closed.

What we claim is:

1. A method for the production of a ladies stocking which comprisesknitting the foot and leg from a thermoplastic yarn by rotationalknitting on a circular row of needles composed of a group of instepneedles and a group of heel needles, into the form of a tube of fabrichaving the same number of Wales throughout, and during the performanceof such knitting partly forming the desired pouch shape for the heel inrotational knitting by omitting at spaced intervals at least one coursefrom the instep so that the instep and heel fabrics have differentnumbers of courses which are joined at a plurality of spaced wales bycausing spaced needles separated by intervening needles near the ends ofthe group of instep needles to be brought into knitting action with theheel needles while intervening needles among the said spaced needles arebrought into and out of knitting action with the remainder of the instepneedles, closing the toe by joining together superposed portions of thetubular fabric and removing surplus fabric beyond the join line,stretching the heel part to final pouch shape by drawing the closed tubeof fabric on to a form having the desired contour, and subsequentlysetting the heel part to the shape dictated by the form by theapplication of heat.

2. A method for the production of a ladies stocking which comprisesknitting the foot and leg from a thermoplastic yarn by rotationalknitting in the form of a tube having the same number of walesthroughout, forming the toe end of the foot of the stocking by cuttingand seaming together the tubular fabric to a tapering shape along acurved line extending across the course lines between the centre line ofthe sole of the foot and the toe extremity, forming a small tuck in thefabric at the toeward end of the line of seaming, subsequentlystretching the heel part to a pouch shape at least partially by drawingthe fabric tube on to a form having the desired contour, and afterwardssetting the heel part to the shape dictated by the form by theapplication of heat.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the seam formed at the toe endis caused to extend through the said tuck.

4. A method according to claim 2, where inthetuck is formed of taperingshape by turning the material of the upper part of the toe end inwardlybetween the side portions thereof preferably for a short distance of upto about one-half inch along the seam line.

5. A method according to claim 2, wherein the stocking is knitted with amarker course defining the position of the toe extremity and withadditional courses for subsequent trirnming forwardly of said markercourse and, in forming the toe end, the curved line of cutting andseaming is caused to terminate on the marker course at the middle of theupper or instep wales.

6. A ladies stocking having the foot and leg knitted rotationally withthe same number of wales from the central part of the foot to the top ofthe leg, at least the heel part being knitted from a thermoplastic yarn,and having the toe end of the foot beneath the toe extremity shaped bybeing cut and seamed along a line curving forwardly and upwardly acrossthe course lines from the sole to the toe and having a central tuckformed in the upper part of the fabric at the toe extremity and held inplace therein, the shaping of the heel pouch having been effected atleast partially by stretching the heel portion widthwise on a shapedform and setting it to the shape thereof.

7. A ladies stocking having the foot and leg knitted rotationally withthe same number of wales from the central part of the foot to the top ofthe leg, at least the heel part being knitted from a thermoplastic yarn,and having the heel pouch formed partially by the omission of at leastone course at spaced intervals from the instep portion opposite thecurve of the heel so that at the heel the heelward courses are greaterin number than the instep courses, the instep and heel courses beingjoined at a plurality of spaced wales, the remaining shaping of the heelpouch having been effected by stretching the heel portion widthwise on ashaped form and setting it to the shape thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,368,664 Smith Feb. 15, 1921 2,357,630 Cole Sept. 5, 1944 2,372,468Allen Mar. 27, 1945 2,423,744 Whitlock July 8, 1947 2,591,566 LivingstonApr. 1, 1952 2,699,056 Margulies Jan. 11, 1955 2,703,972 Reyrnes-Cole etal Mar. 15, 1955 2,811,029 Conner Oct. 29, 1957 2,821,847 Getaz Feb. 4,1953 2,825,215 Buckreus Mar. 4, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 669,300 GreatBritain Apr. 2, 1952

